


Hand-in-Hand

by demishock



Category: Free!
Genre: Childhood Friends, Fluff, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-28
Updated: 2017-02-28
Packaged: 2018-09-27 14:08:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10024130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/demishock/pseuds/demishock
Summary: At all the pivotal moments in Haruka's life - and all the non-pivotal ones, too - Makoto's always been there to offer him a hand.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [snarechan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/snarechan/gifts).



> Wrote this as a gift for snarechan back in 2013 and am only just posting it now because I'm the literal worst. Hopefully there are still fans around that might get a kick out of this.

Haruka’s earliest memory was of Makoto’s hand reaching for him. To put it another way: he couldn’t recall a time before Makoto was a part of his life. If he were to mention it to anyone, which he wouldn’t, he was sure they’d all be surprised that his first memory wasn’t of being underwater, but that was how things were. That was not to say that his memory of Makoto’s hand didn’t involve water somehow – it did. The two were inextricably linked.

The way Makoto recounted it later, Haruka had been walking to their preschool, or at least, that’s what he was supposed to have been doing. It was raining, though, and he’d stopped to watch the ocean. He didn’t remember doing it, although he was sure it was probably for the same reason he still did it today – he liked watching the ocean absorb the raindrops, and always wished that he was one himself, so that he could be a permanent part of that larger whole.

While little Haruka was contemplating his place in the universe, or more specifically, the ocean, an upperclassman went speeding by on his bicycle, knocking Haruka off-balance. He’d landed on his backside in a puddle, and he remained there until a hand appeared, and that was the point at which Haruka’s memory backed up Makoto’s story.

That hand. It hovered in front of him for several seconds before his eyes found the rest of the person attached. It turned out to be one of the kids from his own class. He sort of recognized him from seeing him in passing around the neighborhood, but until that moment they had never spoken.

“Are you okay?” The little voice was fraught with concern.

Haruka didn’t answer, trying to submerge himself in the puddle, which was too shallow.

The other boy grew more insistent, then.

“Come on… we’ve gotta go or we’re gonna be late.”

Haruka lingered on the soaked sidewalk a few breaths longer, then clasped the proffered hand. His grip was gentle, but strong and warm at the same time. Then he was back on his feet, and the pair of them walked on. He cast a longing look over his shoulder, back toward the ocean, and was startled when the boy, still close by his side, said knowingly, “You’d rather be there, huh?”

He hummed an acknowledgement, hoping the other boy would go away. Instead, as they reached the school building, he hopped out in front of Haruka, impeding his progress. Haruka frowned.

“I’m Makoto Tachibana; it’s nice to meet you! You live near the shrine, right? I dunno how you climb all those stairs all the time. Just looking at them makes me sleepy!”

Haruka wasn’t quite sure how to respond to all that, and the silence stretched between them, punctuated by the steady dripping of Haruka’s soaked school clothes on the sidewalk and the ongoing patter of the rain on the overhang above them. Makoto shifted from one foot to the other, before letting out a startled yelp, which in turn startled Haruka.

“I almost forgot!” Makoto dug around in his bag and produced a small hand towel. “You should try to dry off a little, or our teacher’ll be mad…”

Haruka blinked at the towel, not quite comprehending why Makoto was talking to him, or why he was worrying about things like whether their teacher would be mad about him coming to preschool with his clothes soaking wet. But he dried off with it as best he could, wringing out his shirt and shorts. His shoes squelched as he walked to his cubby to change them, and Makoto’s shoes echoed the sound as he followed after.

 

* * *

 

Without really understanding how or why, Haruka found that Makoto was never far from his side after that, following him around like a noisy shadow. He always seemed to know just what Haruka was thinking, even when Haruka made an active effort to hide his feelings, which annoyed him to no end. Even though he was frightened easily and often, he seemed unwilling to leave Haruka alone. Haruka had tried for a while to insist that he didn’t need a friend, but Makoto was nothing if not persistent, and he’d been unable to shake him off. Eventually he stopped trying and just accepted it as inevitable, like everything else that annoyed him. The one thing Haruka found tolerable about him was that he liked swimming, and they began taking lessons together at the Iwatobi Swim Club whenever the older club members weren’t practicing.

It wasn’t until much later that he noticed that Makoto never asked him, as most everyone else did, why he liked the water so much. As with all other things, Makoto seemed to just know.

 

* * *

 

The summer before entering elementary school, Haruka and his shadow were walking home from the convenience store when their progress was suddenly halted by a long line of people crossing the bridge. Makoto had been babbling about his pet goldfish, and the terrible weather lately, and Haruka had barely been listening, his eyes focused on the horizon where the sea met the sky. Makoto fell silent and they stood stock still as person after person passed in front of them. Although neither of them knew at the time that it was a funeral procession, both felt uneasy at the sight, and Makoto gripped Haruka’s hand with all his might, something he’d never done before.

It was only then that it dawned on Haruka that even if _he_ didn’t need a friend, clearly Makoto did.

He resolved to try not to give Makoto such a hard time from then on.

 

* * *

 

In truth, Haruka hadn’t truly begun to appreciate Makoto’s presence until the day his parents moved away to live and work in the city. It was to be just himself and his grandmother, now, and she had gone with them today to help them get settled in, so he’d be spending the night alone. Now he sat outside, staring at the empty house, wondering if it had been as easy for his parents to leave as it had seemed to him. He was so focused on this question, in fact, that he didn’t even hear Makoto approach until the boy addressed him aloud.

“Are you all right?”

“…Yeah.”

Makoto sat down beside him, handing him a can of juice he’d brought.

An hour went by, and Haruka stewed in his sadness and anger. He kept his mouth shut tight, not wanting Makoto to know how lousy he felt. His parents had a good reason to move, and they hadn’t wanted to make him leave Iwatobi behind. And it wasn’t as though they’d left him all alone; Haruka adored his grandmother, and she would be back tomorrow. But he was only a kid, and no matter the logic behind their actions, he still felt abandoned. The last thing he needed was for Makoto to think he was an idiot. But Makoto being Makoto, he must have realized something was amiss. Instead of chastising him, however, Makoto simply nudged his arm.

“Hey, Haru… do you want to go to the pool?”

Haruka clenched his fists and nodded. Makoto stood and offered his hand, and Haruka only hesitated a moment before he took it, letting Makoto haul him to his feet. Without looking back, Haruka turned on his heel and headed for the stairs, and Makoto fell dutifully into step beside him.

 

* * *

 

When they finally returned home at sunset, Makoto invited him to dinner at his house. Haruka wasn’t sure how to feel about the offer, but a part of him appreciated that Makoto was trying to make him feel better. Reluctantly, he accepted, and Haruka found himself meeting Makoto’s mother and father for the first time. The elder Tachibanas quickly realized that Haruka was the boy their son was always telling them about, and when they realized he’d be going back to an empty house otherwise, they insisted he spend the night.

As he tried unsuccessfully to fall asleep, Makoto spoke up quietly from beside him.

“…Haru?”

“…Hm?”

“…I’m sorry.”

Haruka shifted on the futon, turning over to face Makoto. He looked at him quizzically.

“About your mom and dad, I mean.”

Haruka gave a noncommittal little grunt. He didn’t want to talk about it. Still, Makoto persisted, his voice barely above a whisper.

“I just want you to know… I won’t ever leave you like that, Haru. Not ever. I promise.”

Embarrassed, but not wanting Makoto to know that, Haruka rolled over so his back was to him again.

“Lucky me,” he mumbled, but he was absolutely sure he could feel Makoto smiling at him.

 

* * *

 

Makoto was there, too, when Haruka’s grandmother passed away, attending her funeral with him as though it didn’t completely freak him out, even though Haruka knew it did. He made sure to leave early so Makoto wouldn’t have to keep up the façade any longer than he had to, and let Makoto dote on him without complaint, for once. And when Makoto asked if he wanted to stay over that night, he nodded gratefully, glad to not be going back to his empty house just yet. As always, they laid side by side on the futon that night, and when Makoto’s hand brushed his, he clutched it silently, deciding he could just deny having done it if Makoto tried to bring it up later.

Makoto never did.

 

* * *

 

And so it went, with Makoto always offering his hand and Haruka always taking it…

…until the incident with Rin.

When the new school term started, he offered Makoto no explanation for why he’d decided, all of a sudden, to quit swimming, and for once, Makoto couldn’t manage to discern it for himself. He had always been so good at reading Haruka that it was a shock to them both that this time, he couldn’t. For days afterwards, the silence between them was uncomfortable in a way it had never been before, and Haruka hated it. Even so, he couldn’t bear to discuss it, and Makoto was too kind to pry.

Rin had given up on swimming, and Haruka gave it up as well, so it stood to reason, as far as he was concerned, that Makoto would give up on him after a while. He braced himself each day for what he saw as that inevitable conclusion, and yet, despite the wedge between them, Makoto never faltered. He was still there at the beginning, middle, and end of each day, offering his support and encouragement. And when Haruka couldn’t stand to be out of the water any longer, Makoto shadowed him to the beach, and offered his hand to haul him out when the sun went down.

Haruka still didn’t tell him about his race with Rin, but he realized that he didn’t need to. Makoto confirmed at the end of the week that although he couldn’t ferret out the exact cause of Haruka’s reticence, he could still understand the rest of what was going on.

“I meant what I said when we were kids, you know, Haru,” he said quietly as they sat side by side eating lunch on the roof.

“We’re still kids,” Haruka pointed out, frowning.

Makoto gave a little laugh.

“I guess that’s true… but even so…”

Haruka forced himself to keep his eyes focused ahead of him instead of turning to look at his friend.

“I won’t leave you, Haru. If you want to keep secrets, it’s okay. I just don’t want you to be unhappy.”

Haruka may have ruined things with Rin, but he hadn’t managed to drive Makoto away. He felt comfortable, then, the way he always felt when he was in the water.  He didn’t show it outwardly, though. Instead, he turned his head aside the way he always did when he couldn’t quite formulate a response to something Makoto had said.

He knew he’d gotten his message across when Makoto stood up and offered his hand, smiling down at him in that way that only Makoto could pull off.

Haruka took his hand, regained his feet, and led the way back to class.


End file.
